Online Shopping in India – My Reviews

I love shopping! There, I said it. But managing a business, particularly a start up can suck up all your time and my regular shopping expeditions are not regular anymore. So what does a girl do? Online Shopping comes to the rescue. Though people have been shopping online for quite some time in the rest of the world, in India we are generally more wary of Online Shopping. But thanks to a slew of new e-commerce websites in the last couple of years offering COD (Cash on Delivery), more and more people are jumping the Online Shopping bandwagon.

I am sure that almost every month you hear of a new shopping website. Now with so many choices to go for, which site do you choose? The main thing that defines online shopping experience apart from ease of website navigation and payment is Customer Support. I do quite a bit of Online Shopping, so I am going to list my experiences with some of the popular shopping sites.

I have had some of my best shopping experiences with Jabong.com. I have shopped 4 times on this website and every time I was dazzled by their great customer service. Need some extra info about clothes or shoes sizing? Just call them and they will help you out. Not at home when the product is delivered? Just ask the courier guy to deliver the products to your next door neighbor after verifying and they will do it gladly. Apart from the great customer service, they have a good website with excellent navigation, a great selection of products ranging from Apparels for Men, Women and Kids to Cosmetics and Home Accessories. Highly recommended website!

Flipkart is a great website for Electronics, Computers, TV, Books, Mobiles and related accessories. I have shopped thrice on Flipkart and every time they have delivered within the next day. Though I have read some bad reviews about Flipkart recently, my experience with them has been good. (Maybe I was lucky or maybe they have improved their customer service!).

Though I personally don’t like the website design much, but it is functional and usable and that’s what matters most in a e-commerce website.

I am on the fence about this website. I love a great deal as much as the next person and this website offers some pretty great deals on High Street and Designer brands as well as some local Indian brands. I have shopped 4 times on this website. First time, it was a good experience. I received the products on time. Second time I ordered a handbag from a brand I had not heard about. But the bag looked nice and the discounted price of the bag was a fraction of the original price. I thought I was getting a good deal and so I ordered it. When I received the product, it was really low quality and I believe that the discounted price should be the actual price (not the original price mentioned on the site). So I think you should stay away from the lesser known brands as it is just a marketing ploy to show a huge discount on the products. Being a compulsive shopper, I could not stay away from this website (who can resist Guess, FCUK, Zara at 80% discount!). So I shopped yet again and ordered some known brands. Though this time I got the right products, the delivery took more time than mentioned on website and I had to call their Customer Care several times. Now I shopped once again on this website, ordered a popular Indian brand shoes and got the same shoes but the brand name was different (I had not heard of it). I did not call Customer Care as I know they are not too prompt and just decided to not shop on this site any more. But who knows if the next big sale can lure me or not?

My verdict: Shop with caution on this website. Don’t order lesser known brands and don’t trust the delivery time mentioned on their website.

Babyoye.com is a popular store for Baby and Maternity products and is endorsed by Bollywood actress Karishma Kapoor. I had heard a lot about this online store and finally ordered some products a couple of months ago. I ordered two different categories of products and interestingly they sent me two separate invoices. Also one of the product was delivered promptly and the other one took almost 15 days and that too after many emails to their Customer Support. Though I must say they were prompt in communication. This may be a one time glitch and I think I should not judge the website based on this. Maybe I will give it another try soon. Also their in-house brand baby clothes were of good quality.

This is another Baby products store. They have a decent collection of baby and maternity essentials and the website is pretty good too. I ordered a few products once and I got them on time. They also have occasional good sales on the website. Worth to give it a try!

This is a a great website for Cosmetics, Accessories and Personal Care items. I shopped for cosmetics online for the very first time on this website. Their customer support is great and I received all my orders within 3-4 business days.

One suggestion: They should stock some more brands. Right now it is very limited.

Now this is a website that is different from countless other websites selling Women’s clothes, accessories, makeup etc. They have a wide selection of trendy products – some known brands and some unknown but stylish brands and in all budgets. What’s not to love? Well, their delivery time which is 20-27 days. They claim that they source their products from all over the world, so it takes time. I had ordered a product on their website and it was delivered after 22 days. That’s a big downer for me. Will I order from this site again? Maybe if I see something unique which is not available elsewhere. Also I won’t order anything expensive on this site considering the delivery issues.

If you love makeup, you are going to love this site. They have a great collection of cosmetics and provide good customer service. They ship within 3 days and offer free shipping for orders above Rs 250.

Also they have this amazing StyleCraze Community where you can interact with your fellow makeup addicts.

(Update: Due to a recent change in their business model, they no longer run the eCommerce website and now focus solely on the Community.)

This website has a good collection of some High Street brands like Mango, Aldo, Nine West etc. and also some good cosmetics brands, particularly Inglot. The website is good if you are loyal to certain brands but in my view the site can benefit by adding some more variety and more brands. I had ordered Inglot Cosmetics once here and got the order on time. So no complaints there. I will definitely give it a try again.

I will post reviews of some other websites soon. I would love to hear your views and experiences on these shopping websites.

(Note: I was not paid for this review and am not biased towards any website. This post is based on my personal experience)

I’m also online shopping fan and I refer http://www.onlinesasta.com for all kind of good deals. It is deal aggregate website and right now best in India.

http://www.facebook.com/krishanu.kalita Krishanu Kalita

Infibeam is losing the seen.
Honestly, their pricing is at par with other site. But this doesn’t means everything
(will justify below). They also have a free courier service with
order(s) exceeding 100 INR. One of the plus point with Infibeam is that
they have International Shipping arrangements with them (charges borne
by the consignee).
I ordered a Micromax Canvas HD on infibeam as it
was providing it on EMI. After receiving a mail that order has been
confirmed, I with the matter of curiosity checked my user account with
them. The items which where boasted to be with me within 2-3 days now
got postponed for almost a week. Which meant, if the order was confirmed
on the day 1st, you’ll have to wait till day 7th.
If addressed properly may have earned them some credits from me. First, they should have at least bothered to updated me with the delay and shouldn’t have taken the orders if the item was out of stock.
Having lost all the faith, I am now waiting for my stuffs. I also made
up my mind to ask for the cancellation and refund if it gets delayed
further.
Sad enough, my second purchase became the last too. First was a 300/- INR book.

Order ID: 10497957 Date: 29th March’2013 (Purchase date)

Scope for Improvement :
It takes a lot to build a brand. Many customers like me swear by it.
And given that e-commerce will get more fierce by each coming days,
being an early entrant and having a good brand value, Infibeam does have
lots of potential. But it will lose it to its competition if above
shopping experience doesn’t improves.

Shweta Garg

There is this upcoming website http://www.gobol.in, for the sale of factory seconds and refurbished electronic items with COD and EMI options .
I have ordered a Samsung Galaxy S II phone and it was working in a good condition except it had some minor cosmetic blemishes.
I will definitely want to order more items from the website.

http://www.dotpaisa.com ZM

Great to see the demand for online shopping in India! If there are any readers here who are looking to start their own online store and spread awareness of their products, they can get some free tips at http://www.dotpaisa.com … Hope it helps!